Until I Found you

Seventeen

"In case you ever foolishly forget: I am never not thinking of you." - Virgina Woolf

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Eda felt like a princess. She wore a deep blue floor-length silk dress with spaghetti straps that had earned her eye rolls from Ceren and deep sights from Aydan. She knew it was very simple. Coupled with the jewelry she'd chosen, though, it did show her off properly, Ceren had commented.

Eda had relented when Aydan offered some pieces of jewelry deemed more apropos for the event. And she had to give it to her future mother-in-law; they were elegant, tasteful, and delicate enough to have been chosen by Eda herself. She wore medium-sized diamond studs and a gold choker with three small turquoises that matched the color of her dress.

Ceren had insisted that her stylist did Eda's hair and makeup, so Eda had been transformed into the picture-perfect of royalty. All I'm missing is a tiara.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt if you wore a hair clip or a tiara," Aydan absentmindedly offered as she went through the more modest of her family jewels, searching for something that Eda might agree to wear.

Eda smiled at Aydan. She'd wear a clip if it made Aydan happy. Her hair was styled in waves, half of it in a loose bun. Adding the clip will give an up to her hairdo, and despite not making any significant difference to how she looked, it'd make the older woman incredibly delighted.

"You look so beautiful, Edacim," Ceren said, becoming emotional. "I don't know why I'm crying. I didn't even cry when Selin got married; this is ridiculous."

She tried to calm herself down, waving a hand against her face.

Suddenly the stylist walked in carrying several garment bags, and Eda stared at her, curious. "What are those for?"

The stylist explained, "Those are the gowns and dresses for the wedding. I've already altered them, so I figured it was best to bring them with me today. I can do any last-minute alterations the day of if needed."

Eda didn't think much of it; she just nodded, shifting gently around to look at herself in the mirror, satisfied with how she looked.

"May I come in now?" Kiraz grumbled from the door after knocking.

"Wow," Kiraz said, her irritated expression turning to awe in a microsecond. "You look so pretty!"

Kiraz was looking beautiful herself in a flouncy organza white dress with ruffles. Her dress had oversized bows for shoulder straps and beautiful sewed light pink and off-white flowers. Kiraz's hair had been styled in a half braid, sitting at the top of her head like a tiara and threaded with white ribbon flowers. Her straight hair was curled at the ends. And she was wearing white sandals with heels which made her look much older than six.

Eda's heart squeezed, realizing how quickly her little girl was growing.

"You took your blessing off!" Kiraz complained when she didn't see the medal around Eda's neck.

"I didn't," Eda assured her, "I pinned it to the inside flap of my dress. See?"

Seeing that little pendant made Kiraz smile widely at her. Today was not the day for Eda to go unprotected.